This analysis will be done at suitable points during the World Cup 2015 so that the readers can see the way the Performance tables evolve. As more matches get played the top performance mosaic changes and readers can identify with what happened in the past few days. The qualifying bar for inclusion moves higher as more matches get played.

Australia was crowned worthy world champions after an overwhelming display at the MCG. Any increase in New Zealand's winning chances, on winning the toss, was wiped out, and more, when McCullum was dismissed in the first over. After that it was an uphill battle and New Zealand was always was struggling. The final winning margin reflected the difference between the sides, on the day. The 16-player Australian team, Hughes included, was invincible. A single blip happened quite early and did not matter.

Top Batting performances in WC 2015: in 48 matches played so far

SNo

Rating Pts

Year

ODI#

MatchIdx#

Batsman

For

Vs

Runs

Balls

1

833

2015

3643

111

MJ Guptill

New Zealand

Win

237*

163

2

579

2015

3616

100

AB de Villiers

South Africa

Win

162*

66

3

573

2015

3612

100

CH Gayle

West Indies

Zim

215

147

4

469

2015

3641

111

RG Sharma

India

Bng

137

126

5

461

2015

3615

100

TM Dilshan

Sri Lanka

Bng

161*

146

6

459

2015

3610

100

S Dhawan

India

Saf

137

146

7

454

2015

3636

100

BRM Taylor

Zimbabwe

Ind

138

110

8

448

2015

3645

125

SPD Smith

Australia

Ind

105

93

9

448

2015

3646

150

GD Elliott

New Zealand

Aus

83

82

10

447

2015

3623

100

DA Warner

Australia

Afg

178

133

Grant Elliott's single-handed holding up effort for New Zealand in the final finished in the top-10. The importance of the match was enough to get him into the top-10 table. His effort was bracketed with Smith's wonderful hundred in the semi-final.

Top Bowling performances in WC 2015: in 48 matches played so far

SNo

Rating Pts

Year

ODI#

MatchIdx#

Bowler

For

Vs

Analysis

1

679

2015

3617

100

MA Starc

Australia

Nzl

9.0 - 0 - 28 - 6

2

598

2015

3607

100

TG Southee

New Zealand

Eng

9.0 - 0 - 33 - 7

3

494

2015

3617

100

TA Boult

New Zealand

Aus

10.0 - 3 - 27 - 5

4

444

2015

3600

100

MR Marsh

Australia

Eng

9.0 - 0 - 33 - 5

5

430

2015

3602

100

Sohail Khan

Pakistan

Ind

10.0 - 0 - 55 - 5

6

361

2015

3643

111

TA Boult

New Zealand

Win

10.0 - 3 - 44 - 4

7

361

2015

3646

150

JP Faulkner

Australia

Nzl

9.0 - 1 - 36 - 3

8

358

2015

3646

150

MG Johnson

Australia

Nzl

9.0 - 0 - 30 - 3

9

355

2015

3616

100

Imran Tahir

South Africa

Win

10.0 - 2 - 45 - 5

10

348

2015

3640

111

Imran Tahir

South Africa

Slk

8.2 - 0 - 26 - 4

There was no four-wicket haul in the final. However, James Faulkner's three timely wickets secured 361 rating points and came in at the seventh position. It is very relevant that all three batsmen he dismissed were top-order batsmen. So the Man-of the-Match award looks very fitting.

Top Player performances in WC 2015: in 48 matches played so far

SNo

Rating Pts

Year

ODI#

MatchIdx#

Player

For

Vs

Runs

Balls

Analysis

1

700

2015

3612

100

CH Gayle

West Indies

Zim

215

147

6.0-0-35-2

2

579

2015

3615

100

TM Dilshan

Sri Lanka

Bng

161*

146

8.0-0-35-2

3

496

2015

3600

100

MR Marsh

Australia

Eng

23

20

9.0-0-33-5

4

447

2015

3620

100

Wahab Riaz

Pakistan

Zim

54*

46

9.4-1-45-4

5

434

2015

3611

100

MM Ali

England

Sco

128

107

10.0-0-47-2

6

403

2015

3627

100

SC Williams

Zimbabwe

Ire

96

83

9.0-0-72-3

7

362

2015

3634

100

Shakib Al Hasan

Bangladesh

Nzl

23

18

8.5-1-55-4

8

356

2015

3644

125

CJ Anderson

New Zealand

Saf

58

57

6.0-0-72-3

9

353

2015

3608

100

AD Russell

West Indies

Pak

42*

13

8.0-2-33-3

10

344

2015

3638

100

Amjad Javed

U.A.E.

Win

56

99

8.0-0-29-2

Elliott did not bowl and Faulkner did not get on to bat. So there was no player performance worthy of inclusion.

Top Team performances in WC 2015: in 48 matches played so far

SNo

Rating Pts

Year

ODI#

MatchIdx#

Team

Own score

Vs

Other score

1

775

2015

3646

150

Australia

186 for 3 in 33.1

Nzl

183 for 10 in 45.0

2

750

2015

3640

111

South Africa

134 for 1 in 18.0

Slk

133 for 10 in 37.2

3

721

2015

3616

100

South Africa

408 for 5 in 50.0

Win

151 for 10 in 33.1

4

714

2015

3607

100

New Zealand

125 for 2 in 12.2

Eng

123 for 10 in 33.2

5

690

2015

3610

100

India

307 for 7 in 50.0

Saf

177 for 10 in 40.2

6

687

2015

3623

100

Australia

417 for 6 in 50.0

Afg

142 for 10 in 37.3

7

678

2015

3621

100

South Africa

411 for 4 in 50.0

Ire

210 for 10 in 45.0

8

669

2015

3631

100

India

260 for 2 in 36.5

Ire

259 for 10 in 49.0

9

668

2015

3645

125

Australia

328 for 7 in 50.0

Ind

233 for 10 in 46.5

10

668

2015

3635

100

England

101 for 1 in 18.1

Afg

111 for 7 in 36.2

Seven wickets still in hand. More than one third of the balls resource still in hand. By these World Cup standards, the final Australian score could have been in excess of 350. The fact that they dismissed New Zealand well within the stipulated overs also helped. The net result is that this overwhelming win was the best team performance in the World Cup. This performance secured 775 rating points.

In the final report, I will re-visit the entire World Cup scene and update the across-world-cups table with this World Cup performances.

A brief introduction into the methodology of Performance Analysis.

The Batting Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Runs scored, Balls faced, Next highest score (if this is the highest score), % of Team score, Innings status at entry, Bowling quality, Pitch information, Team strengths, Target score in front, Match location, Result and Match importance. These parameters are given appropriate weights. The calculations are done in such a way that Rating points of 1000 would be allotted to a mind-blowing and match-winning score of 200 in 150 balls in a WC final.

The Bowling Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Wickets captured, Quality of batsmen dismissed, Scores at which batsmen were dismissed, Bowling accuracy, Batting quality, Pitch information, Team strengths, Target being defended, Match location, Result and Match importance. The calculations are done in such a way that Rating points of 1000 would be allotted to a magnificent and match-winning analysis of 10-2-15-6 in a WC final.

The Player Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Batting Rating points, Bowling Rating points and the Fielding Rating points, which is a combination of catches and stumpings. There are minimum criteria for batting and bowling stints to ensure that these are genuinely all-round performances.

The Team Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Result, Margin of win, Resources utilized, Team strengths, Match location and Match importance. The calculations are done in such a way that Rating points of 1000 would be allotted to an overwhelming win by 150 runs or 8 wickets in a WC final.

Anantha Narayanan has written for ESPNcricinfo and CastrolCricket and worked with a number of companies on their cricket performance ratings-related systems